


Through the Spectrum

by Bagheeraa



Category: Batman Beyond
Genre: Gen, Lantern Corps, same with Max's dad, there's a smidge of an OC but he's only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 07:03:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/684186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bagheeraa/pseuds/Bagheeraa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five sentences each (except black, which needed a better ending) of Max in the Lantern Corps Red through Black.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. we'll burn you all

**Author's Note:**

> Some of these are actually Max as a member of the Corps, and some deal more with how the emotion in question manifests with her.

She’s long since moved away from the mirror and the vile reflection within, but distance does nothing to discourage the voice ringing in her head.

“They don’t care,” it spits; it sounds like her father now having moved on from Dana, her mother, and Terry. “They abandon you, they toss you aside until having you around suits _them_.”

Her phone begins to buzz, illuminating the dark room and the devastation within (it’s been a busy evening) and it’s Terry, who never just calls to talk anymore because no one wants little orphan genius Max around unless she’s doing favors and running errands for them.

“It’s time,” Max murmurs -as her new ring bathes her face in a sick red light- “to show them what I can _really_ do.”


	2. a sin of excess, so they say

There were times before her mother’s promotion when there wasn’t enough money for bills _and_ groceries, and in these times of strife –after swearing to herself that this could never happen again- Max would alter the records of utility companies. A lower water bill here, a surplus in last month’s electricity payment there, just enough to keep Max alive; she’d never gone any farther, never saw fit to use these skills for anything but absolute necessity.

She smiles now in her brand new apartment, so generously (and unknowingly) paid for by the lost Powers boy and furnished by Bruce Wayne (a fair trade for having her arrested, she thinks) and idly runs her fingers along the brand new entertainment system she’d procured just 30 minutes ago. It will need its own room, she decides and constructs a burnt sienna wrecking ball to take out the back wall of her bedroom.

Her screaming neighbors will just have to get over it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why, but this one was my personal favorite.


	3. beware your fears made into light

_And here I’d always thought yellow was my color_ she thinks with a sick laugh. It echoes back to her from far away highlighting just how alone she really is.

In the distance (which is ridiculous because she’s alone in the dark, ages away and she shouldn’t be able to hear them but she _can_ ) Terry and Dana exchange quick but happy vows with Chelsea and Howard looking on as their witnesses. Desperately she shoots another bright beam into the darkness but it flies off into the black, and Max sinks to the ground with a sob as Mr. and Mrs. McGinnis share their first kiss as husband and wife.

No one misses Max; in fact, no one remembers her.


	4. beware my power

“According to Kai-Ro most people are content with the ring itself.”

“Because I’ve so often done what  _most people_  do.”

Terry shakes his head with a small grin but Dana -who is squished into the screen beside him- looks positively thrilled.

“Don’t listen to him; you look gorgeous!”

Max flips her loose (and brand-new) emerald pincurls over her shoulder and smiles even brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read somewhere that green (because it's the middle of the spectrum) was made up of people who were more in harmony with their rings so I figured that with a change like this and not under any sort of emotional manipulation, Max would change her hair to signify the "next step" in her life, you know?


	5. look to the stars

Outside on the balcony they lean against the ledge, their backs to the raucous graduation party behind them as they stare instead into the night.

“New graduates with all the world before us once again,” Dana says; she squeezes Max’s hand and they shift a little closer, protecting against an imagined chill. “Are you ready?”

Max has accepted a new job and she’s hoping that Bludhaven will be _her_ city, the place where she finally makes her mark and finds her footing; Dana is staying in Gotham to run her new talk show and strike fear into the hearts of all of her future interviewees and this is where their lives should diverge, but no one bucks expectations like these two.

“I’m terrified, but it’s okay” –she squeezes back and warmth fills her chest- “I think it adds to the excitement.”


	6. formorrow Sur

She doesn’t do this often (not the meditating part-that she does fairly often now) but tonight she’s feeling a lot like, well, herself; she’s antsy and curious and meditation isn’t quite easing her jitters so instead she finds her place of complete focus and listens to the sorrows and regrets of her loved ones until she finds the one that’s been calling to her tonight.

She’s in a bright and fancy men’s room and before her a stately man stares into a mirror and asks himself aloud what the hell he’s doing. He’s far past the age where this should be possible but here he is, ring box burning a hole in his pocket as he prepares to try for love again, one more time; but instead of sitting across from his hopeful intended he’s hyperventilating in the bathroom because what if she says no?

It takes extra concentration but Max lays a constructed hand on top of his and for a moment, their eyes meet.

“Daddy,” she whispers, “it’s time to be happy.”


	7. for hearts long lost

It sits there docilely, completely alone on a desk that Max knows for a fact was covered in fire hazards before she’d fallen desolately into bed four hours ago. It twinkles in the light of her desk lamp and while usually she’s pretty good at figuring out who’s broken into her apartment to leave her what gifts, the ring has her totally stumped; she reaches out for it and it meets her halfway which is unsettling, but it’s warm and heavy in her hand and after finding out Colt cheated she’d tossed the ring he’d given her into a box of parts. Now the finger she usually wore it on feels naked.

She slips the ring onto the abandoned finger and it fits perfectly, filling her room with violet light and the white-hot crackle of energy, and her heart with more joy than Colt’s ring ever had. She smiles as every bit of hurt and betrayal becomes warm, happy love and comfort; she’s finally found the last ring she’ll ever need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote two for violet and since I couldn't choose one over the other I'm just posting them both in chronological order. So on to the next!


	8. love conquers all

Dana’s staring at them viciously and Terry looks like he wants to cry, and he should: the ring -having been dormant since Max took it off two weeks ago- had awakened immediately once Dana declared herself done with Terry once and for all. It’s unfair really; Dana didn’t mean it, neither of them ever do (Max has always believed that they’ll go the distance, but that’s neither here nor there right now) but the violet ring was drawn to Dana’s anguish and so a Star Sapphire she became; however, an ultimatum was quickly offered because why settle for the jilted girlfriend when you can have the girl who’s been left behind by everyone she’s ever loved?

“For hearts long lost and full of fright-“ Dana’s unnaturally bright eyes light up as Max begins and Terry grabs her arm.

“We’ll find another way Max, don’t do it” he pleads but she shakes him off.

“It’s Dana” is all she says in explanation before finishing the oath; Dana didn’t sign up for any of this, she doesn’t deserve it but as far as Max is concerned what’s one more case of possession amongst friends?


	9. we crave your hearts

No suit, no cowl, no voice modulator, no disguise of any kind could ever hide the man standing before her; even now, pulled from death and peace, she knows him.

But unlike before her grave, now she feels nothing for him.

“Max”-his voice is anguished and the blue he is made up of swirls with the gamut of technicolored emotions- “it’s me, it’s Terry.”

“I know who you are Terry McGinnis, and you should know that you cannot hide Dana Tan from me either; once I have your heart hers is next.”

“You already have our hearts Maxie,” and he is crying now but he continues to stand tall as generators hum around them and a blinding beam of white shoots into the air; she cries out as it’s joined by others and she can only focus on his boots as he approaches and finishes: “but not like this.”

(There is brief confusion, and then everything is black once again.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You should totally tell me what you think so that I'm not mediocre forever. But whether you do or not, thanks for reading!


End file.
